Influence of Power-to-Fuel Plant Flexibility Towards Power and Plant Utilization and Intermediate Hydrogen Buffer Size

Conversion of intermittent renewable energy into synthetic fuels and chemicals is required to secure long‐distance transport and feedstock for chemical industry. Due to the fluctuating energy generation, process intensification and feed flexibility are essential. This contribution investigates the importance of feed flexibility on the buffer size with applying a 20:80 scenario of wind/solar energy generation. The degree of power and plant utilization are calculated. With the capability to accept a lower load bound of 17 % after only 10 min, a minimum tank capacity of only 1.3 h is calculated to avoid a fuel plant stop throughout a calendar year. Additional tank capacity for peak power compensation in the range of ∼10 h is beneficial for the utilization degree of power and under the prerequisite of a load‐flexible fuel plant

Techno-economic evaluation of a new Biomass-to-Liquid process concept for reduced biofuel production cost

2nd generation biofuels gained more importance in recent years since they enable greenhouse gas emission reductions in the transport sector on a larger scale. One promising way to produce alternative fuels is the Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) process with the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis which produces synthetic hydrocarbons that could directly be used as liquid fuels in an existing infrastructure. One major issue of this process is the production cost. Within the European COMSYN project (Compact Gasification and Synthesis process for Transport Fuels), a new BtL process concept is developed that aims to reduce biofuel production cost up to 35 % compared to alternative routes

Advances in the techno-economic assessment to identify the ideal plant configuration of a new biomass-to-liquid process

2nd generation biofuels constitute a promising candidate to provide part of the future demand on renewable fuels. Within biomass-to-liquid (BTL) processes synthetic hydrocarbons can be produced via Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, which meet current fuel requirements. Due to its high similarity to conventional fuels these liquids can be utilized in existing infrastructure. Hence, a potential market launch is only limited by their production costs. Exactly that is what the EU-project COMSYN (Compact Gasification and Synthesis process for Transport Fuels) is aiming at. With its process concept the project can reach a significant reduction of the biofuel production costs by up to 35 % compared to alternative fuels. To achieve this ambitious goal, the project pursues two major approaches: - Firstly, combining multiple high-efficient process steps, such as a new gasification concept (developed by VTT) together with a hot gas filtration and a FT-microreactor (developed by INERATEC). - Secondly, investigating decentralized production sites of FT-products in combination with a centralized fuel upgrading concept at existing refineries. To find the optimal process configuration regarding the site specific boundary conditions a flowsheet model has been set up based on experimental data received during the project's test runs at VTT. Furthermore, the existing DLR in-house software TEPET (Albrecht et al ) is extended by an automated utility and heat integration to receive comparable economic results during a simultaneous variation of technical and economical process parameters. The influence of site factors on the optimal process design will be presented, which allows the definition of required boundary conditions and a preliminary site selection for future stand-alone or integrated biomass-to-liquid processes

Techno-economic evaluation of a new Biomass-to-Liquid process concept for reduced biofuel production cost

Introduction 2nd generation biofuels have gained in importance in recent years, since they enable greenhouse gas emission reductions in the transport sector on a larger scale. One promising way to produce alternative fuels is the Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) process based on Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, which produces synthetic hydrocarbons that could directly be used as drop-in fuels in the existing infrastructure. One major issue defining the feasibility of this process is the fuel production cost. COMSYN Project Within the European COMSYN project (Compact Gasification and Synthesis process for Transport Fuels), a new BtL process concept is developed that aims to reduce biofuel production cost by up to 35 % compared to alternative routes. To achieve these cost reductions experimental data for a new gasification concept (developed from VTT) as well as a highly efficient FT reactor (developed from INERATEC) are implemented into various flowsheet models. To determine the feasibility of these process concepts, a techno-economic assessment is carried out. The results of the preliminary study are presented. So far three process concepts with different configurations have been developed: one base case with steam gasification, autothermal reforming and once-through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a second case with CO2 removal prior to the FT reactor (to improve kinetics) and a third case with an externally heated reformer (no air supply, to improve efficiency). Additionally, one-stage vs. two-stage Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is analyzed. Each configuration will be heat integrated, evaluated and compared, to determine the key processes which enable highest energy efficiency and economic cost saving potentials